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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27810955">My Best Friend's Little Sister</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/itspillowtime/pseuds/itspillowtime'>itspillowtime</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Camping, Eventual Smut, F/M, Hiking, Ichigo has a dirty mind, Never trust Ichigo with your little sister, POV Kurosaki Ichigo, Romance, Rukia likes spicy things, Smut, Some cute moments but mostly smut, Tent Sex, Thirsty older Ichigo, inappropriate thoughts, poor Renji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:07:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,356</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27810955</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/itspillowtime/pseuds/itspillowtime</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On a camping trip with his best friend Renji, Ichigo tries to ignore his friend's little sister like he used to.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kuchiki Rukia/Kurosaki Ichigo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So my pal Renji and I always try to go on some kind of an annual trip when we're able to make our schedules work. As we've gotten older and picked up more responsibilities, we haven't always been able to do something consistently, but we still do our best to plan an outing of some sort at least once every couple years. Most of our recent trips have been just the two of us, taking a break from work or girlfriends to spend some quality dude time together on the road, but a few times when we were younger his parents had insisted we bring his younger sister, Rukia, with us.</p><p>The last time she joined us on one of our trips was probably five or six years ago, back when we were in college and fully ready to take advantage of our break from lectures and finals over summer vacation. His sister was probably in middle school then, and I remember feeling slightly annoyed that she had to tag along, when I was looking forward to hanging out with Renji for the first time since we'd left for different schools.</p><p>After our first year of parental freedom and introduction to the world of college parties, there was so much I wanted to catch up on with Renji, <em>without</em> having to babysit his kid sister, thank you very much. But his parents were out of town that weekend visiting relatives, and figured she'd have more fun spending time with us rather than the "grown-ups."</p><p>Anyway, it'd been a while since the last time I'd seen her, since eventually Renji and I graduated and started working like responsible adults, and she'd gone off to college as well. So I was a bit surprised when he asked if she could join us for our next trip, explaining somewhat apologetically that their parents wanted her to get out and do something for her break instead of just staying in and studying all summer. I had snorted at that; you wouldn't have had to ask me twice not to spend my college vacations studying, but it didn't shock me that was their greatest concern for her.</p><p>To be completely honest, I don't remember too much about Rukia, since I mostly just ignored her whenever she hung out with us in the past. I do remember she was always pretty quiet unlike Renji, usually engrossed in her headphones or a comic, which conveniently made it even easier to ignore her. So I sighed and agreed when he asked if she could come with us this time. She'd probably be exactly the same as always, with her head stuck in some book while Renji and I did our own thing. Mainly I was just looking forward to getting to spend some solid time catching up with my best friend in person, after two years or so working in different cities.</p><p>This time, we'd decided on camping. It'd be nice to take a break from the busyness of the office and the city, and there were some convenient sites about halfway between our locations where we could meet in the middle. One of them was also known for having some good hiking spots nearby, which was always a plus, so we ultimately landed on that one.</p><p>We'd agreed to meet up at the campground's parking lot around late morning (so he'd have time to sleep in), and set up our tents before making lunch. Renji had called me while I was driving up to let me know that they were on the way as well, and were currently at a station refilling on gas. I already figured I'd get there before them, since I've always been the kind of person who likes to have things planned in advance and get places on time; Renji, on the other hand, is hardly ever less than an hour late to anything. I was honestly a little impressed he'd made it up early enough this time.</p><p>I'd been sitting in my car for about fifteen minutes, leaning back in the driver's seat with the window down and my eyes closed, enjoying the slight breeze from outside when I heard my friend's loud voice break through the peace. "Hey, Ichigo!"</p><p>Opening my eyes, I pushed the driver's door open and got out of my car to see Renji grinning at me from a couple cars away. "Long time no see, man."</p><p>I couldn't help grinning back as I walked over to him. "Seriously. How've you been?"</p><p>"Not gonna lie, work's been nuts," he responded with a throaty laugh, lightly slapping me on the back after a quick hug. "It's gonna be nice to finally disconnect and get some fresh air."</p><p>I was about to reply in agreement, just as I noticed a cute, perky ass sticking out of his car on the passenger side, covered in a tiny pair of denim cutoffs. And <em>some</em> legs, wow.</p><p>I was genuinely confused for a moment, thinking maybe Renji had decided to bring his current girlfriend and just forgotten to mention it, when I heard a vaguely familiar voice call out. "Renji, where did you put the sunscreen?" I couldn't help but continue to stare as my friend's kid sister ducked out of the car and stood up to come over to us.</p><p>Her hair was in two loose, messy braids and she was wearing a large t-shirt that draped lightly over her petite frame. The hem was cinched in and held in place with a hair tie, which subtly accentuated her tiny waist as it barely peeked out from above her shorts. Although they weren't the tiniest pair of shorts I'd ever seen, where you can basically see the girl's ass sticking out since it covers so little, her legs looked amazingly long for someone of her stature and I couldn't stop my eyes from wandering to her thighs. It was a pretty innocent outfit overall, but I don't know, there was still something so casually...<em>sexy</em> about it.</p><p>And Rukia, my best friend's little sister, was <em>not</em> sexy.</p><p>Thankfully, neither of them seemed to have noticed my staring as I turned my attention back to Renji. He took off the backpack slung over his shoulder to unzip the front pocket, taking out a bottle of sunscreen to toss it to her. "Oh sorry, I took it out."</p><p>Rukia caught it, a small smile on her face as she turned to greet me. "Hey Ichigo, good to see you."</p><p>I felt a smirk creep onto my lips as I responded, calling her by my old nickname for her. "Hey, midget. How's college going?"</p><p>It might've just been my imagination, but I thought I saw her forehead twitch for a second before she replied politely, "It's going good, thanks."</p><p>During our brief exchange, Renji had been rummaging through the rest of his backpack for a copy of our campsite reservation, finally finding it tightly crumpled at the bottom of the bag. Unconcerned, he pulled it out and started to smooth it out. "I'm gonna go check us in, meet you guys at our spot." He handed his sister the car keys and walked off toward the campground office, leaving us in charge of starting to set up our stuff.</p><p>Just the two of us now, I looked back at Rukia, trying not to be obvious as I subtly let my eyes roam over her familiar features. Her hair was a bit longer now and her face had lost some of the youthful roundness I remembered, though she'd always been a pretty skinny kid.</p><p>I joined her to help as she turned back toward their car to start unloading. "So, what're you studying at school?"</p><p>She had opened the trunk and was leaning forward slightly as she started to pull out sleeping bags and camping gear. My eyes absently wandered to the exposed nape of her neck as I stood behind her. "Creative writing."</p><p>"Oh yeah, you've always been a big bookworm. Guess I'm not surprised," I said, taking some tent supplies from her.</p><p>"Yeah. Weren't you a lit major?" she asked, reaching up to shut the trunk as our hands were both full with equipment now. Her shirt rose up a bit, exposing more of the small curve of her back. I hadn't even realized I was looking until she turned around, and I immediately snapped my eyes away. "Sorry, can you help me close it?"</p><p>I put down the tent poles I was holding in one arm to reach above her, shutting the trunk easily. "Haven't gotten any taller, I see," I joked, smirking.</p><p>I saw a flash of irritation cross her features for sure this time. She had probably been trying to be polite at first since we hadn't seen each other in so long, but quickly given up when she saw I wasn't bothering. "Shut up," she simply said, locking the car and turning on her heel to start heading toward the campsite.</p><p>Still amused, I tried not to smile as I picked the poles back up and followed her. I'd thought having Rukia with us for the trip would be annoying at best and awkward at worst, so I was glad it seemed like neither would be the case. And teasing her was a lot more fun now than before; she seemed a lot less shy than she used to be. The wonders of college life, I guess.</p><p>As we made our way toward the trees, I found myself staring at her legs again, slightly transfixed by the way they looked from behind as she walked in front of me. There's something so alluring about the subtle way a woman's hips sway from side to side when she walks; it didn't hurt that my current view also happened to include a tight, perfectly rounded ass, either.</p><p><em>Holy shit</em>. I can't believe I was thinking these things about my best friend's little sister, who I'd known almost my whole life. It felt wrong, but at the same time Rukia had changed so much I was still having difficulty mentally connecting her to the quiet, scrawny kid I'd grown up mostly ignoring, I told myself.</p><p>I was pulled out of my scattered thoughts as we arrived at our reserved spot. Dropping the supplies I'd been carrying on the ground as Rukia placed hers on the picnic table assigned to us, we got to work on the tents.</p><p>We worked in silence for the most part, aside from occasionally asking the other person to hand us a stake or mallet. It was a little entertaining watching her attempt to lift the extended rods we had connected to raise the tents by herself, and I found myself letting her struggle for a bit each time before I stepped in to help her out.</p><p>As we were working on the last tent, I ended up enjoying the view a bit too long and she lost her balance for a moment, wobbling on her tiptoes as the weight of the pole pulled her forward. "Hey—!" she cried out.</p><p>I was behind her in an instant, catching the metal pole raised above her hands in mine without thinking, to alleviate some of the pressure from her. As I did, I felt her back press against my chest and...<em>another</em> part of her body press tightly into my groin. It was only for a split second, and I immediately jerked away, hoping she hadn't felt it or thought anything of it. Luckily, she just glared at me instead, "Thanks for not helping earlier, you lazy jerk!"</p><p>"Not my fault you're so short and helpless," I shot back, pretending to be annoyed but secretly just glad she hadn't seemed to notice. I winced when I felt her small flip-flop-clad foot stomp on mine.</p><p>"Wow, you guys work fast," came Renji's impressed voice from the other side of the tent, causing us to stop bickering for a moment. Rukia slipped out from under me right as he came around to our side, holding some campground maps and brochures in his hand. "Sorry it took so long. Dude, Ichigo, did you know Ikkaku works here? And he shaved his head."</p><p>I shook my head in surprise, "Weird, what are the odds."</p><p>"Yeah, it's crazy," he said. "We just started talking and ended up catching up for a bit."</p><p>Renji and I chatted as the three of us finished setting up the last tent together before making lunch. Our first meal of the trip was pretty simple, just some soup and salad that didn't take long to throw together. After we ate and cleaned up, Renji announced that he was pooped from the drive and was going to take a nap.</p><p>Rukia rolled her eyes as he disappeared into his tent. "He's only tired because I made him wake up two hours earlier than he usually does, so we wouldn't be late."</p><p>I laughed, perfectly able to picture my friend's grumpy expression as his little sister scolded him on the phone at eight in the morning. "That explains everything."</p><p>We were sitting across from each other diagonally at the picnic table now, enjoying our first bit of downtime since we'd arrived. Rukia had made us both tea after lunch, which I appreciated as I enjoyed the tranquility of the moment. It was so peaceful at the camping grounds, completely quiet except for the sound of our breathing, the birds, and the babble of a nearby stream.</p><p>She took a small sip from her cup, testing the temperature. "What time did you get up?"</p><p>"I usually wake up at seven," I said. "Hard to fall back asleep after that."</p><p>"Yeah, me too. Sometimes if I still feel tired but can't fall asleep, I'll do some stretches in bed just to wake myself up."</p><p>An image of her lying in bed in nothing but that oversized shirt, arms above her head as her back arched off the bed, came unbidden into my mind. Her face flushed as she panted cutely, begging for more—</p><p><em>What the fuck?</em> I berated myself. <em>It's Rukia.</em></p><p>I tried to ignore my dirty mind by taking a huge gulp of tea, attempting to act nonchalant as I accidentally burned my tongue, but she noticed anyway, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "You okay there?"</p><p>"Yep. All good," I said unconvincingly. "So are you doing any clubs outside of classes?</p><p>She nodded, "Yeah, I've been in this sorority since freshman year, so I'm pretty busy with that."</p><p>It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. I hadn't been expecting <em>that</em>—that Renji's good little PG-13 sister would go to college and immediately join the debauchery of Greek life. Though I couldn't stop myself from imagining her in a tight little dress at some party, flirting innocently with thirsty frat guys as they tried to pick her up...</p><p>Seeming to be able to read my expression, she clarified, "It's a community service sorority, so we mostly do fundraisers and service events."</p><p>Well that made much more sense, I guess. "Oh, nice. Do you guys have a house, or are you living in the dorms?"</p><p>"No, I'm in an apartment." She took another sip of her tea. "I got a studio this year after the guy I was dating suggested it, so we wouldn't have to keep bothering my roommate whenever he visited, you know—just to be more considerate."</p><p><em>Yeah, more like so he could fuck you without getting interrupted</em>, I thought. "Dating, huh? Who's the lucky guy?"</p><p>She shrugged. "I know it's super cliché, but this guy I met at a frat party last year. I thought he'd be more mature since he was two years older than me, but now I know age doesn't mean a whole lot, so we broke up last month."</p><p>"Oh shit, that's recent," I said, feeling a little concerned as my big-brotherly instincts naturally kicked in for a second. "Are you holding up okay?"</p><p>She smiled at me. "Thanks for worrying, but I'm fine. It was a good learning experience. I thought I'd be more lonely living on my own after we broke up too, but I'm actually really liking it."</p><p>"Yeah, not having roommates is the best," I agreed. "You can do whatever you want and not have to worry about bothering anyone else, like being super loud and walking around the house naked right after you get out of the shower."</p><p>She laughed. "Okay, I didn't need to know about that."</p><p>"Yeah right, midget, like you don't do that at home."</p><p>She ignored the jab this time, changing the topic to me. "How about you, anyone you've been seeing?"</p><p>Honestly, I'd been too busy recently to be seriously dating anyone, though one of my coworkers had been heavily dropping hints that she was interested ever since we'd drunkenly hooked up after the holiday party last year. That was probably the most lurid thing going on in my love life right now. "Nah," I said candidly. "There's a girl at work who keeps flirting with me, but she's not my type."</p><p>She looked amused. "And what exactly is your type?"</p><p>"It's more about their personality and if we can click, like if they're confident, funny, and we can talk about dumb shit but also important shit," I explained. "And maybe they're able to kick my ass once in a while."</p><p>Rukia smirked, and it took me a moment to register as I realized I'd never quite seen that expression on her before. "So you like it when a girl's in control?"</p><p><em>Oh fuck yes</em>...though probably not in the way she was thinking. I had to quit being such a perv. "Smart girls are hot, what can I say," I said, hoping that reasoning sounded convincing.</p><p>She didn't respond to that but shrugged knowingly, getting up from the table. "All right, well I have to catch up on some reading, so I guess I'll see you when Renji gets up."</p><p>"Reading for school or pleasure?"</p><p>"For fun," she replied dryly.</p><p>"Nerd."</p><p>"Says the lit major," she said, grabbing her tea as she left me at the table and disappeared into her tent.</p><p>I let out a laugh, deciding to follow suit and catch some Zs before dinner as well. I got up and headed into my own tent, rolling out my sleeping bag and stripping off my jeans before I got in.</p><p>As I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling tired, I couldn't help but think about Rukia. She'd definitely changed a lot. It was fun talking to her, and easy too. I couldn't remember the last time I'd enjoyed chatting with a girl this much.</p><p>And as wrong as I felt for thinking this, I'd be lying if I said I didn't find her attractive. The lower half of her body was hidden from me as we had sat across from each other at the picnic table, but as we'd been talking I'd gotten the opportunity to really look at her face for the first time since we'd arrived. Her eyes were big like they'd always been, but a deeper shade of violet now than I remembered, framed by long, dark lashes. She wasn't the kind of person to overreact and generally maintained a pretty neutral expression, but I did notice whenever her lips would quirk up occasionally as we were talking...like she <em>knew</em> something. I'm sure it didn't mean anything, but it made her seem a bit coy, and I found myself oddly turned on by the implications. Where had this confidence come from and when had she gotten so hot?</p><p>My thoughts wandered back to how she'd looked getting out of the car, walking in front of me as we'd left the parking lot. Petite like she'd always been but suddenly with all these <em>curves</em> she didn't have before. I remembered our conversation about her apartment situation...so she'd been with an older guy, who she <em>had</em> met at a frat party, after all. And he had convinced her to get her own place, probably so he could make her scream as he fucked her into the bed…</p><p>I knew my mind was starting to wander somewhere dangerous as I felt myself starting to get hard, but suddenly the memory of her small body tight against mine as her ass pressed into my crotch popped into my head, and I couldn't help it as my hand trailed down to touch myself lightly over my boxers. I thought about her walking naked around her apartment, wearing nothing but a thin towel, still warm and wet from the shower. I imagined her lying on her bed playing with herself, maybe using a toy or her fingers, moaning as loudly as she wanted since she didn't have any roommates to worry about.</p><p>Fuck. I knew I had to stop. I was here to spend some time disconnecting from work and catching up with my best friend, not to ogle his <em>kid sister</em> who was still in college and way too innocent and pure for my dumb, perverted mind. I mentally scolded myself and managed to take my hand off myself, but despite my best efforts, I couldn't stop picturing the way her perky little ass had looked in those shorts and those big, knowing eyes.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So I finally bit the bullet and joined Ao3 after years of lurking. It's a lot to take in but hopefully I'm doing this right. I'm currently working on Chapter 3 of this fic and will update with the second chapter soon.</p><p>To new readers, thank you for taking the time to check it out and hope you enjoy! To folks who've read my stories previously on ff.net, thanks so much for continuing to support me - it makes me happy knowing that folks enjoy the nonsensical situations I like to put these two in! I'll also be posting Chapstick soon for those who prefer something a little more cute and slow burn.</p><p>Feel free to find me and my doodles on twitter @itspillowtime, and now if you'll excuse me I have about 140 IR fics to go read :) *happiness*</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Renji ended up waking up around six; apparently he'd stayed up pretty late packing the night before and was running on less sleep than usual. Even though I felt tired as well, I wasn't used to sleeping so early—or at least that was the reason I told myself—and had tried drifting off without much success. I eventually gave up, throwing on a hoodie and some old soccer pants and opting to catch up on some emails for work instead (I know, I know). It was a good distraction at least, as I tried not to think too much about Rukia flipping through a book while lying on her tummy a tent away.</p><p>"Shit, sorry man, I totally knocked out." It was Renji outside. "Did you get some sleep too?"</p><p>I shut my laptop and got up, making my way over to unzip the door of my tent before ducking out to join him. "Nah, it's all good. Glad you were able to take a break." I glanced at Rukia's tent, noting it was dark inside despite the fact that the light was starting to disappear outside.</p><p>"Rukia went to take a shower," he said, noticing my line of sight, adding apologetically after a second, "Hope it's not too weird having her with us. Sorry about that."</p><p>It was more than a little weird, to be completely honest...but probably not in the way he was imagining. I just shrugged, "It's no big deal. We caught up a bit while you were sleeping."</p><p>"Yeah?" he said, looking relieved, as we started walking toward his tent where we'd left the cooking supplies and food in a small cooler. "What'd you guys talk about?" he asked, pulling out the portable stove and butane canisters.</p><p>"I asked her about college, mostly," I said, taking them from him as he moved to the cooler and started taking out ingredients for the curry ramen we were making for dinner. "She told me about her sorority and apartment situation, and some guy she'd been seeing."</p><p>Renji growled a little at that. "Did she tell you what a piece of shit he was? Some frat kid she's way too good for. Pretty sure all he cared about was getting into her pants."</p><p>"Oh yeah, she mentioned it didn't work out. Good for her for breaking it off." Although it was a bit amusing seeing Renji's protective older brother side, I'd be lying if I said I couldn't totally relate to how he was feeling. I'd be pissed if one of my little sisters started dating some asshole too.</p><p>"Yeah," he let out a conflicted sigh. "I used to be worried about guys taking advantage of her at college, since she's such a good kid and all. But I think she's been able to hold her own pretty well. I was actually really impressed when she told me about all the guys she's turned down," he said, beaming a bit with pride.</p><p>I let out a chuckle. "She's got a good head on her shoulders," I agreed, only slightly surprised to hear that Rukia had a ton of guys falling over for her at school. If he had told me a week ago I might've laughed and assumed he was joking, but knowing how she looked and acted now...</p><p>We shot the breeze some more while getting to work on dinner, catching up on work, family, and relationships. His job had been insane as of late with plenty of late nights and weekends, but he was keeping his fingers crossed to hear back about a possible promotion soon. Like me, he also wasn't seeing anyone at the moment, but had recently been talking to a girl he'd met at the gym.</p><p>"So what's her problem?"</p><p>Renji grunted, taking the onions I'd finished chopping to toss them into the pot. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with her."</p><p>"I mean, there's gotta be something if she's into your lame ass."</p><p>Rukia got back from the showers just as he growled and took a swipe at me, carrying her clothes in one arm with a towel draped around her shoulders. "Smells good," she chirped as she passed by our makeshift kitchen on the way to her tent, letting us know she'd be right back after dropping off her stuff. When she came back out, she had changed into some black leggings and thrown on a casual oversized sweater, her hair loose and wet as it lay over her shoulders, free from her earlier braids. "Anything I can help with?"</p><p>"Yeah, can you grab the noodles and help Ichigo with the ramen? I forgot the chopsticks and stuff in the car," Renji said. "Be right back, gonna go grab 'em real quick."</p><p>"Sure," she replied, walking over to where we'd put the rest of the ingredients on the other side of the table, before coming back around to where I was stirring the pot. "Did you get some sleep?"</p><p><em>Not a wink. Mostly thanks to you...</em> "Nah, I couldn't fall asleep so I ended up doing some work. How was your book?"</p><p>She frowned at me, ignoring my question as she began adding water to the pot. "You know, you're not supposed to be working on this trip." I could feel my pulse quicken as she moved slightly closer to get a better angle while pouring. "You should be relaxing."</p><p>She was much closer to me now, standing slightly to the side behind me as the space in front of the stove wasn't very wide. I felt a shiver run down my spine when she told me to relax, her voice close to my ear and the flowery scent of her shampoo reaching my senses. I could see her damp hair glistening in the corner of my eye, and was instantly reminded of our shower conversation from before.</p><p>
  <em>God, she looks so good wet.</em>
</p><p>"Uh, yeah," was all I managed to say as I kept my gaze firmly fixated on the roux. I was vaguely aware of what she was saying as she continued to sympathize with how difficult it must be to mentally disconnect from work, as I tried unsuccessfully to convince myself the steam rising from the pot was causing my face to heat up.</p><p>"Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help, okay?" she pressed sincerely, completely unaware of what her close proximity was doing to me.</p><p>At that moment, the curry no longer smelled nearly as good as the girl standing right next to me. Every so often, her delicate hand would reach over to add more ingredients to the pot and brush against mine...I felt like some fucking teenage boy as I felt my heartbeat speed up wildly whenever it did, and I felt myself stir in my pants. <em>Holy shit. I was </em>not<em> getting hard with her next to me while we were cooking dinner on a fucking trip with her brother.</em></p><p><em>But her skin was </em>so<em> soft…</em></p><p>Renji arrived back then, his loud voice a welcome distraction from my conflicted thoughts. "All right! Who's ready to grub?"</p><p>Rukia cheered at that, and I was silently thankful as she left to go help him set the table. I did my best to tame my earlier arousal and forced myself to focus instead on finishing up the curry, testing to make the noodles had softened and the veggies were fully cooked.</p><p>After we finished serving, we grabbed our bowls and sat down to eat with Renji sitting across from me. Rukia was perched next to him on the other side of the table, where she had somehow magically produced a small shaker of chili powder, which she was generously adding to her curry.</p><p>"God, why'd you bring that—" Renji's nose was wrinkled.</p><p>"I always keep some in my bag," Rukia said, pausing to wiggle it at him threateningly, laughing as he flinched and held his bowl far away from the offending spice. "You know, just for a little extra kick."</p><p>"Fuck that!"</p><p>She simply snickered and withdrew her arm, adding more to her curry before passing it to me. "Whatever. At least Ichigo can appreciate my love for spice, right?"</p><p>I smirked at my friend's disgusted expression as I took it from her. "Can't handle a little heat, Abarai?"</p><p>Renji rolled his eyes at us, blowing on his untainted curry to cool it down. "You both suck."</p><p>Shrugging, she dipped her chopsticks into her own bowl to mix in the chili. "Your loss, dummy. Especially since it's so cold out right now." She kicked her legs out as she spoke, absently stretching them out under the table as she continued to stir her noodles. "Are you sure you don't want any? It'll help you warm up from the inside."</p><p>For a fraction of a second, I felt her calf brush against mine—how long were her damn legs, anyway?—and for a brief moment I swore I could feel the heat from her skin radiating through the thin, flimsy fabric of her leggings. Though her legs had already retreated back to her side of the bench by then, I imagined catching her ankle and running my hands up those slender calves higher and higher, as my mind envisioned a couple other...<em>practical </em>ways we could keep ourselves warm.</p><p>What the fuck was wrong with me? I was picturing groping my best friend's little sister, with both of them sitting just a foot away. <em>Get a grip, Kurosaki.</em></p><p>They were bickering about something else now, which I was grateful for as neither had seemed to notice my more than slightly indecent thoughts.</p><p>"I already broke up with him, didn't I?" Rukia was saying irritably. "God, you never give me any credit."</p><p>"You shouldn't have dated him in the first place!" Renji growled in disbelief. "Seriously, what the hell were you thinking? Isane told me her little sister said he had the <em>worst</em> reputation at—"</p><p>"I told you I didn't know anything about that!" she retorted in frustration. "Would you just let it go?"</p><p>He threw his hands up in mock acceptance. "Oh yeah? Then tell me why you even decided to go out with him!"</p><p>Just then, I noticed Rukia's eyes dart at me so briefly I thought I might have imagined it, almost looking guilty...but when I blinked, she was back to glaring at her brother.</p><p>"I don't need your permission," she ground out, causing Renji to slightly flinch, "on who I choose to date, or <em>why</em>. If I'd known you were just going to interrogate me on this trip, I wouldn't have come." Snatching her empty dishes angrily, she stood up and left, stalking off in the direction of the water station.</p><p>Renji exhaled in annoyance after she'd left, jabbing his chopsticks violently into his leftover ramen. "I seriously don't get it."</p><p>I looked at him empathetically. "Little sis struggles, huh?"</p><p>He scoffed. "At least Yuzu and Karin would never date an asshole like <em>that</em>." He continued stabbing at his food humorlessly. "She's got plenty of common sense; she's rejected tons of other guys—so why <em>him</em>?" His tone was incredulous.</p><p>"Maybe she wanted to experience a real college fling before she graduates?" I suggested.</p><p>"A <em>fling</em> doesn't last a year and a half," he scowled. "She didn't even tell me about it until he'd already convinced her to move into her own place."</p><p>I shrugged, hoping to offer some reassurance, though I was surprised to hear the relationship had lasted so long. "Hey, Rukia's gotten a lot more mature since the last time I saw her, I'm sure she knows what she's doing." I stood up with my dishes, offering to take his as well. He polished off the remainder of his curry and handed his bowl to me with a sigh. "Why don't you turn in early? I know you're probably still tired and we gotta wake up early for the hike tomorrow."</p><p>"Thanks, man. Appreciate it." He let out a timely yawn and clapped me on the shoulder. "Don't worry about Rukia though, we argue all the time now that she's an <em>adult</em>." He gave an ironic chuckle. "She never stays mad very long."</p><p>I smirked, bringing our dishes over to the stove to stack them with the used pots and cooking supplies. "Pretty impressive, really, considering she's dealing with <em>you</em><strong>."</strong></p><p>"Oi," he deadpanned back at me, but the corners of his mouth ticked upward. "All right, I'm gonna turn in early. Let Rukia know I went to bed but I'll see ya both in the morning."</p><p>"Will do."</p><p>"Thanks again for taking care of the dishes."</p><p>"Yeah, no problem."</p><p>He turned around to head back toward his tent, lifting a hand in the air as he went. After he'd gone inside, I briefly stopped by my own tent to grab my toothbrush before heading over to the water station to help Rukia with the rest of the dishes.</p><p>She was still there when I arrived, facing away from me as she brushed her teeth.</p><p>"Yo," I said, walking up behind her quietly, causing her to jump.</p><p>"Mmmph!" She made a muffled noise, turning around in surprise before ducking down to rinse out her mouth. "You scared me!"</p><p>"Tch, not my fault you were zoning out," I pointed out. "Though you should be more careful. You never know what might happen while you're out here all alone in the dark."</p><p>"You sound like Renji," she huffed accusingly. "I can take care of myself."</p><p>"I believe you," I said as I got started soaping up the dishes, though she didn't look convinced. "You know he's just being protective. It's a big brother thing."</p><p>She sighed as she started to pack up her toiletries.. "I know. But I already told him I broke up with him, so can't he just let it go?"</p><p>I shrugged. "Well, a year and a half is pretty long for a college relationship." I looked at her questioningly as her large eyes met mine.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Why <em>did</em> you date him if he was such a jerk?"</p><p>Even in the dim light of a nearby light post, I could make out a cute flush on her face as it appeared across her cheeks for some reason.</p><p>"Um, he was funny."</p><p>I raised an eyebrow. "You dated a guy who treated you like crap for a year and a half because he was funny?"</p><p>"No!" She waved her hands dismissively, and I noted she seemed a bit nervous. "Anyway, it doesn't even matter anymore."</p><p>"All right, if you say so." I kept scrubbing and chose to drop the subject, much to her relief. "So you ready to go hiking tomorrow?"</p><p>Her face brightened at the welcome change of topic. "Yeah, I'm excited. Most of my friends aren't big hikers, so I usually go solo." She bent down to pick up a soapy bowl and started rinsing it. "It'll be fun to go with company for once."</p><p>"Are you sure it's not just that you don't have any friends?" I teased, earning a soft whack from her with the dish towel.</p><p>"I have plenty of friends, they just prefer going to the beach," she scowled, taking the last dish from me as I handed it to her. "Who owns a full weekly rotation of swimsuits, anyway?"</p><p><em>Bet you'd look amazing in one though. </em>"Well, your school's right next to the beach, right? Must be a lot easier going there than driving all the way out to the mountains. What don't you like about it?" Having finished washing the dishes, I picked up my toothbrush and started brushing my teeth, having borrowed some of her toothpaste.</p><p>"There isn't anything wrong with the beach, I'd just rather play volleyball or do something fun while we're there. But whenever we go all they want to do is tan, so basically we go, lie there for a couple hours, and I come back burnt all over since I don't tan anyway," she explained as she dried the last dish. "Plus putting sunscreen on my back is such a pain, it takes forever to reach all the spots."</p><p><em>Oh, shit</em>. I pictured her on the beach, wearing a sexy little bikini as she looked back at me, her hair gathered up to expose the soft, smooth skin of her back, her other hand holding out a bottle of sunscreen innocently as she asked me to help her put it on...</p><p>I cleared my throat. "Yeah, must be tough with such short arms," I paused my brushing briefly to joke, as she flicked the damp towel at me.</p><p>After I finished up<strong>, </strong>we walked back to the tents together, carrying our toiletries and the cleaned and dried dishes. It had gotten considerably chillier since the time we'd started making dinner, and the sky was mostly dark except for some faint illumination from the stars.</p><p>We dropped the dishes off by our luggage next to Renji's tent quietly, trying our best not to wake him up, before heading back toward our own. By the time we reached her tent, Rukia had wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly from the cold night air.</p><p>"Well thanks for helping clean up, unlike a certain lazy bum," she said, smiling.</p><p>I smirked. "Anytime. You should hurry up and get some sleep, tomorrow'll be a pretty busy day."</p><p>The corner of her mouth quirked upward and she rolled her eyes in pretend annoyance. "Okay Dad, see you bright and early." She turned around and ducked through the partially unzipped door, pausing halfway to look back at me, her expression hard to make out in the low light. "Maybe you can help me put on my sunscreen tomorrow, since my arms are so short."</p><p>As I watched her disappear into the tent, zipping the door closed behind her, my mouth felt very dry all of a sudden.</p><p>I stood there dumbly for a moment, continuing to stare at the bright door of her tent as it lit up from the inside. I could still smell the sweet scent of her shampoo as it lingered in the air where she'd been standing.</p><p>The light was casting shadows on her tent, and I could see her slender silhouette projected against the fabric as she began to undress, getting ready for bed. My heart continued to pound wildly—when had it started?—as I watched, and I could feel the blood in my cheeks spreading lower to other parts of my body.</p><p><em>Shit shit shit. </em>I broke my gaze away from the illuminated outline of her body, and forced my feet to start moving back toward my own tent. Even as I did, I couldn't stop wondering if she'd really meant what she'd said. God, I'd already been jittery enough today feeling her so close to me, or whenever her warm skin had accidentally brushed against mine.</p><p>I shook my head, trying to clear it from these stupid thoughts. Even if it was just wishful thinking on my part, there was no way Rukia was interested in her brother's best friend, whom she'd practically grown up with. And although she might have gotten more confident and come out of her shell since the last time I saw her, she hadn't done anything to act remotely flirty towards me so far this trip. My raging hormones were definitely causing me to read too much into things.</p><p>As I entered my tent, quickly stripping down into my shorts to get into my sleeping bag, I was nearly positive I wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight. After all, whenever I closed my eyes, all I could picture was a girl—a gorgeous, petite girl who was dangerously more attractive than she seemed to realize and who turned me on way more than I wanted to admit.</p><p>If only she wasn't also my best friend's sister, and definitely off limits.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Not much about this story might be canon, but Renji disliking spicy things is :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy Holidays, everyone! ✨✨  Thanks so much for being patient—here's a slightly longer chapter for y'all. Enjoy :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Morning."</p><p>Renji greeted me as I stepped out of my tent into the bright sunlight, and I nodded back at him while stifling a yawn. He seemed to have woken up some time ago and was in good spirits, already dressed in his hiking clothes and humming under his breath as he fired up the stove. Some chopped ingredients lay prepared on the picnic table by his makeshift workstation, ready to be cooked for our pre-hike breakfast.</p><p>I walked over and sat on the bench by him with my hands stuffed in the pockets of some sweatpants I'd thrown on. "You're up early. How'd you sleep?"</p><p>"Dude, I feel great." He grinned, grabbing a pan from in front of me. "I see why you always do this now, I don't think I've ever felt this productive in my life."</p><p>I snorted but didn't reply as I felt another yawn come up as he continued. "How about you? You look kinda dead, man. Hope Rukia didn't keep you up too late."</p><p>I shook my head wordlessly in response while bringing my palms up to rub my eyes. If he only had any idea...</p><p>Falling asleep had been next to impossible last night. After finally tearing myself away from the spot Rukia had left me outside her tent, I'd gotten back to my own, only to spend the next thirty minutes trying unsuccessfully to push thoughts of what had just happened out of my head. But it was useless—whenever I tried closing my eyes, all I could see was the image of her silhouette burned behind my lids; remembering the way she'd looked, how her back had arched as she raised her arms above her head to remove her top...</p><p>Without even intending to, I'd kept replaying the vision like a movie in my head. It was so innocent, really—just the outline of her body visible through a layer of canvas, backlit by the soft glow of her lamp. But what had really gotten to me was when I'd realized she hadn't been wearing a bra under her oversized sweater.</p><p>I'd been painfully hard as my eyes had followed the lithe curve of her profile up her flat tummy to the swell of her breasts, her perky nipples clearly visible from the side. My feet refused to move as I found myself rooted to the spot, unable to look away as she continued undressing on the other side of the cloth; my face and neck felt as if they were burning despite the freezing temperature.</p><p>The longer I stared, the more I wished I were there in the tent with her and that I was the one helping her remove that damn sweater. I wanted to feel her heated skin beneath my hands, to see if it was as soft I imagined it to be, to make her little body shiver from something other than the cold...</p><p>How the fuck was she this sexy?</p><p>In a weak attempt to get my lust under control, I tried telling myself she hadn't known I was still standing outside—that she definitely wasn't doing any of it on purpose to tease me and it was all just an accident...but the taboo element of watching her undress without her knowing only ended up making me even harder. God, what was wrong with me?</p><p>Horny and frustrated with myself, it sucked, but eventually I was able to fall into a restless sleep, maybe just out of sheer exhaustion from thinking so much...only to see her again in my dreams.</p><p><em>Filthy</em>, X-rated dreams. Dreams involving the two of us doing things I'd never even thought of doing, in positions I'd never even tried...far dirtier than anything I'd imagined up until this point.</p><p>I'd woken up with a gasp. I lay there in my tent, breathing hard as I tried to calm down. Even though I had a large sleeping bag with enough room to stretch my legs, my body felt uncomfortably warm and I immediately kicked off the top layer, letting out a hard breath in relief at the cool air. Grabbing my phone from next to me to check the time, I was disoriented to see that it was only about four in the morning. I tossed it aside and lay back down with my arm across my eyes, doing my best to return my breathing to normal.</p><p>I was hard beyond belief, and feeling extremely off.</p><p>Some of the things I'd pictured myself doing with Rukia last night almost freaked me out with how realistic they'd been. It's not like my thoughts had been exactly pure over the rest of this trip either, but something about how real it'd felt this time was different...even as I lay there alone in my sleeping bag, I swore I could still feel the aftersensation of her small body pressed against me, her breasts soft against my chest and legs tangled in mine. And as exciting as it had been, another part of me felt disgusted at my own mind for subconsciously conjuring up such vividly explicit scenes in the first place, much less with someone as young and, in my mind, inexperienced as Rukia.</p><p>Renji's little fucking <em>sister</em>!</p><p>Right on cue as if she could hear my agonizing thoughts, I heard the unmistakable zip of a door coming from Rukia's tent from behind me at the table. I immediately stiffened; as much as I'd tried to prepare myself to see her today, my nerves were still shot from last night and my body felt like it was hypersensitive to anything alerting me to her presence. Renji didn't seem to notice anything as he greeted and spoke with her like usual, but I was way too tense to pay attention to anything they were saying at the moment.</p><p>I could feel my neck heating up as I tried not to look at her, keeping my back to her as she came toward us. Thankfully, she stayed standing behind where I sat and kept chatting with Renji, true to his prediction about already having gotten over their small argument from yesterday. While they continued to talk, I decided to take it as an opportunity to get some space between us so I could pull myself together before facing her again, and stood up from the bench without turning around. "I'll get some coffee going."</p><p>I heard Renji call out "Thanks!" from behind me as I started heading toward his tent to retrieve the coffee supplies. Once I got there, I let out a breath I hadn't noticed I'd been holding, and stood there surveying the chaotic heap of equipment he'd left outside with my hands still in my pockets. I almost cracked a smirk; Renji may have gotten up earlier than usual today, but his organizational skills were still pretty crappy. The supplies hadn't been a mess when Rukia and I had left them last night, and I was pretty sure it hadn't been the work of a wild animal. Or I guess it was, kind of.</p><p>"Hey."</p><p>I nearly jumped out of my skin as Rukia appeared from behind me, walking over toward where I was standing. Even though the brief moment of distance had helped me calm down somewhat, hearing the sound of her soft voice still caused me to flinch. It was serene, unconcerned—the exact opposite of how I was feeling. As a knee-jerk reaction, my eyes impulsively snapped onto her face a little too quickly before I had a chance to stop myself.</p><p>It felt extra weird seeing her in the flesh after seeing her in such...graphic dreams, but I released a small breath of relief when I saw what she was wearing. Her hair was hidden in a low ponytail under a plain white baseball cap, and she had on a light purple hiking jacket zipped modestly up to her collar, as well as some pale, almost white leggings. Honestly, I was a little surprised; the last words she'd said to me the previous evening had tormented me all night, and part of me had been terrified she was going to come out of her tent this morning in some tiny little outfit and follow through on her...request, so I was secretly a bit relieved. <em>And maybe just a little disappointed...</em></p><p>I gave her a "hey" back as she walked around me to duck into Renji's tent, and I felt myself relax with the added distance...until I looked down.</p><p>I swallowed hard.</p><p><em>Shit.</em> Rukia was not wearing leggings, as I'd previously thought, but instead had on a <em>very</em> small pair of black shorts, if they could be called that. I hadn't noticed earlier since from my taller angle her jacket had hidden the hemline of her shorts, but I could see now that the creamy color I'd mistaken for leggings was actually her smooth, bare legs. The black, stretchy-looking material hugged her hips and accentuated her tiny waist beneath her jacket, which had ridden up as she leaned over.</p><p>If I had thought her ass looked good in those denim shorts on the first day of our trip, it looked absolutely mouthwatering right now.</p><p>The farther she leaned into the tent, the more I continued to stare; her legs looked long and smooth, and I found myself wanting so badly to reach out and run my hands over them. Fuck, she was practically wearing nothing more than underwear; my eyes were glued to that sexy little triangle at the apex of her thighs.</p><p>She ducked back out of the tent, having found what she was looking for, and my eyes immediately snapped away from her luscious body. I looked around furiously for the cups, locating them buried underneath some paper towels, and went to pick them up as if I'd finally found what I came for.</p><p>"How'd you sleep?" Her voice drifted over my shoulder.</p><p>I continued to keep my gaze away from her as I answered, scatteredly looking around for any other supplies Renji might have forgotten to grab for breakfast. "Ah, fine. How about you?"</p><p>"I slept fine. Though I got a little warm last night."</p><p>I almost coughed, catching myself. "Oh yeah? I thought it was pretty cold, actually." <em>What a fucking liar.</em></p><p>"Yeah, I think I just had too many blankets on," she said, coming over to the side of the tent where I was. "Whatcha looking for?"</p><p>"Uh," I racked my brain quickly, "do you know where we put the creamer?"</p><p>"Oh yeah! Renji left that in the cooler too. One sec." She turned around to head back to the tent.</p><p><em>Fuck, say something</em>. I couldn't tell if she sensed my awkwardness, but I definitely didn't want to make it any more obvious. "What did you need to grab?"</p><p>She lifted her arm in the air behind her to show me the small paper carton she was holding, as I tried very hard not to look at her ass, which was sticking out of the tent again. "We're having omelettes for breakfast and the idiot forgot to grab the eggs."</p><p>"Oh yeah," I said. "Eggs are your favorite, huh?"</p><p>Her eyes widened at me slightly as she ducked back out of the tent, this time with the creamer and a jar of instant coffee in hand. "How'd you know that?"</p><p>I blinked. "Uh...I dunno. Maybe you told me once or something."</p><p>"Maybe..." She looked down, and I felt my face heat a little. "I mean, we never really talked much before this trip." <em>Oh yeah, because I was always an asshole and ignored her.</em></p><p>I cleared my throat. "Uh, right. Then maybe I'm just observant," I joked, trying to diffuse some of the tension, and I noticed her cheeks turn slightly pink but she nodded and gave a small laugh. "Guess that must be it. Should I get the sugar too?"</p><p>"I'm good, but you should probably grab some for Renji."</p><p>She laughed again, and it sounded more relaxed this time. "You know him too well."</p><p>After gathering the sugar and a couple other supplies, we walked back together to the picnic table, where Renji was starting to toss some of the veggies in a skillet. "Hey, good timing. Ruks, how do you want your omelette?"</p><p>Her eyes lit up as she dropped off the supplies she was holding on the bench. "Can I get mine in a roll?"</p><p>"Hell no, I can barely do a flip without breaking it! Why do you have to be so damn fancy?"</p><p>"Then why'd you even ask!"</p><p>I chuckled, seeing how quickly their moods had reversed. "It's okay, I can do it."</p><p>Renji glared at his sister as he stepped aside from the stove to let me use it. "Fine. You better thank Ichigo, 'cause your future husband isn't gonna make rolled omelettes every morning for your picky ass."</p><p>She glared right back at him. "It's not like it's <em>that</em> hard to make."</p><p>"Then make it yourself!"</p><p>I tried not to smile as they continued to snap at each other, feeling myself relax as I started cooking. Their bickering was helping take off some of my earlier edge, and I was grateful for the chance to keep my hands busy as I grabbed a couple eggs to crack them into a bowl.</p><p>Renji eventually cooled off, volunteering to get the coffee ready now that he was off omelette duty. Rukia sat at the bench, helping me beat and prepare the eggs before I poured them into the pan. Once I'd finished making all of our omelettes and Renji had filled three cups with steaming coffee, we sat down at the table to eat.</p><p>Rukia grinned widely at me. "Thanks for the omelette, Ichigo."</p><p>I smirked. "Anytime, midget. Wasn't that hard to make."</p><p>The two of us laughed as Renji growled at us mid-bite from across the table.</p><hr/><p>After we'd finished cleaning up the dishes and I changed into a light jacket and shorts for our hike, we set out to hit the trail. The hike we'd chosen turned out to be even better than it had looked in pictures; the scenery we'd passed so far had ranged from lush shaded paths along streams and waterfalls, to brighter areas of dappled sunlight through forests. It was supposed to be about four hours roundtrip, and we were planning to take a longer break at the top for lunch, which we'd packed in our bags before heading out. There weren't any picnic tables at the peak, but there'd be a little shady lookout area we could sit at to eat.</p><p>It had been an easy hike so far, and we were a little over three-quarters of the way there. There were a couple sections where we'd had to scale a few flights of stairs built into the trail, but for the most part the elevation gain had been pretty steady as we made our way up.</p><p>Despite the sun having come up hours ago, the morning chill was only just starting to fade as it was slowly replaced by a pleasant warmth that felt more like summer. I was finally starting to feel warm enough to take off my jacket as we exited what would be the last shaded section of the hike before we reached the top. Now that we were getting close, the trail was getting noticeably narrower and steeper.</p><p>"Fuck, we have to climb this thing?"</p><p>I looked up to see Renji standing in front of me, his black tank already soaked in sweat as he'd taken his jacket off about twenty minutes into our hike. As I followed his line of sight, I saw Rukia standing a little ways ahead of us at the foot of an impressive mountain of rocks, not unmanageably steep but still nothing to sneeze at. The tip of a pole was just barely visible at the top, marking our destination.</p><p>"We'll probably have to crawl our way up," Rukia said as we caught up to her. "Might have to use our hands just to be safe."</p><p>"Fuck," Renji said again.</p><p>I took the opportunity to pull off my jacket while we weren't moving, folding it up and putting it away in my backpack. "You good, man? We can take a break if you need."</p><p>"Nah, I'm fine." He pulled the lid off his water bottle and took a large gulp. "You guys can go first, I'll just be in back."</p><p>I glanced back up at the peak, crowned by a bright blue sky with no clouds in sight. "All right. Looks like it'll take us fifteen, maybe twenty minutes," I estimated.</p><p>Rukia grinned breezily. "Oh, that's nothing. Come on, we're so close!"</p><p>"Dammit," Renji growled. "One day when you're working sixty hours a week and sitting at a desk all day you won't think it's so easy either."</p><p>She rolled her eyes playfully and tilted her head in the direction of the rocky trail. "<em>Ichigo</em> is tough and can handle it, right?"</p><p>I tried not to read too much into the tone of her question and ignored the small shudder I felt shoot down my spine, clapping Renji on the shoulder as I passed him to follow her lead. "Take it easy, dude." Rukia smirked from in front of us before turning to start climbing the first couple rocks.</p><p>It looked pretty steep when you were standing at the bottom looking up, but the climb itself wasn't actually too bad. We were moving more horizontally than vertically as we scaled the rocks, using both our arms and legs to stay balanced and keeping an eye out for good footholds. We didn't speak much, instead focusing on the rocks in front of us one at a time.</p><p>Pretty admirably, we were about half of the way up and Rukia still seemed to have plenty of energy, moving deftly from rock to rock without slowing down much. On the other hand, I was definitely starting to feel the burn, though it felt good to get in a solid workout that wasn't hitting the gym after work, to Renji's earlier point. The tranquility of the fairly empty trail was a welcome change of pace, and as we got higher the breeze felt great to make up for the lack of shade.</p><p>"Wanna take a break and wait for Renji?" Rukia's voice came from above me.</p><p>I looked up to see her turning around to sit on a large rock she'd reached several yards ahead of me. "Sure."</p><p>Taking a break from the rock I was climbing to do the same, I plopped onto my ass and opened up my backpack to take out my water bottle, taking a gulp as I looked at the scenery spread out below where we were sitting. A little ways down, Renji was not as far behind as I'd thought and would probably make it over to us in a couple minutes. "How're you feeling?" I asked, glancing back up at her.</p><p>"Not bad. It's a really nice view up here." She crossed her legs while taking a sip of her own water, and I noticed how toned they were despite her slender build.</p><p><em>No kidding</em>. I looked away to watch Renji again as he let out a couple of curses from below. "I think Renji brought his camera. Maybe we can get some pictures at the top."</p><p>"Yeah, we definitely should!"</p><p>I chuckled at her enthusiasm and tucked my water bottle back into my bag. "Well, I can definitely tell you're a hiker. Are you even tired at all?"</p><p>She grinned proudly. "Only a little. I'd say my stamina's pretty good."</p><p><em>Oh how I'd love to test that personally sometime</em>...I flushed and shook my head a little to get rid of the uninvited thought.</p><p>As we were talking, Renji caught up to where we were sitting. He climbed onto the rock below mine and dropped onto his ass. "Fuck. Gonna be sore as shit tomorrow."</p><p>Rukia smirked down at him. "I keep telling Mom and Dad how out of shape you are, but they think I'm kidding. Since you're the gym freak."</p><p>Renji growled. "I told you! I don't have time to go on hikes and run a billion miles every day 'for fun' like you!"</p><p>I raised my eyebrows at her. "You run too?" I guess it explained those legs...</p><p>"Yeah," she shrugged. "I like to do a couple laps every morning before class. There are tons of good running spots on campus."</p><p>"Don't encourage her!" Renji snapped, and she laughed at him.</p><p>After several more minutes, we were starting to get pretty warm with the sun having risen high in the sky and nothing to block it from where we were sitting, so we decided to start making our way up again. We were all climbing closely together this time, with Rukia still leading the way and Renji behind me.</p><p>I was looking forward to reaching the top and enjoying a lunch break, as well as finally seeing the spectacular view we'd seen in all the pictures firsthand. As we approached the summit, I raised my head to glance up toward the peak...and was greeted instead with a very different view.</p><p>Rukia's perfect little ass was right in front of my eyes, no more than six feet in front of me. It was swaying side to side with her hips as she climbed, and just slightly bounced with each of her movements.</p><p>I could've touched it if I just got a little closer.</p><p>At this angle and this close up, I could just barely make out the outline of her pussy under her little shorts...it looked soft and plump. This view felt way too intimate and I quickly dropped my head back down, my face on fire. I felt myself starting to get hard despite myself and silently prayed Renji wouldn't notice. He probably hadn't since he wasn't some fucking pervert who stares at people's asses while they're climbing, but either way the last thing I needed was for him to see his best friend getting a raging hard-on for his little sister.</p><p>For the last stretch of the hike, I kept my head down and eyes laser-focused on the rocks in front of me for the rest of the climb, but just <em>knowing</em> what was in front of me, if I just looked up...it was torture. No matter how hard I tried not to think about her perky, round ass, the image of the spot between her legs, so temptingly close, was seared into my memory.</p><p>We finally reached the top, and I was grateful when she stood up to stretch by the side, removing the threat of me seeing <em>that</em> view and adding some distance between us. Renji climbed up behind me as well, and we spent a few minutes enjoying the light breeze that was strongest at the peak.</p><p>After taking a few minutes to refresh and catch our breaths, Renji complained he was hungry so we agreed to eat first and enjoy the views after lunch. We found a spot with some large rocks in the speckled shade of a few trees and sat down to eat, with Rukia sitting next to me and Renji across from us.</p><p>As I started to unwrap mine, the sound of a zipper to my left caught my ear and made me glance to the side out of the corner of my eye.</p><p>I was still facing forward, about to take a bite of my sandwich, but I could see Rukia shrug out of her jacket in my peripheral vision as her bare shoulders came into view, and I nearly choked mid-bite.</p><p>There it was—the outfit I'd been both dreading and anxiously anticipating. So this entire time, she <em>had</em> been hiking in a tiny sports bra, in addition to her barely-there shorts that had nearly caused me to have an accident as we were climbing. Just thinking about how much of her skin was exposed caused my cock to to lurch slightly in my shorts; it took almost all of my willpower not to just turn my head and get a better look.</p><p>Renji, on the other hand, hadn't noticed right away as she took off her jacket. He looked up from his sandwich and coughed loudly when he saw what she was wearing underneath it. "Jesus, Ruks!"</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Put on some clothes!"</p><p>"I just took my jacket off because it's so hot," she deadpanned, taking a first bite of her sandwich. "So no thanks."</p><p>Even though I wasn't looking at him with my gaze firmly planted on my lunch, I could feel Renji's eyes dart over to me. "Y-you can't just—we're outside, there are <em>people</em>—"</p><p>"There's no one else here except Ichigo," she said, annoyed, "and everyone else is on the other side of the mountain."</p><p>Renji was speechless for a moment as I could tell he was thinking that <em>I</em> was exactly the "people" he had in mind as he tried to dissuade her. I continued to focus resolutely on my sandwich, chewing and swallowing as evenly as I could. I wasn't sure if he suspected how my body was reacting to her being so close and so <em>unclothed</em> next to me, but there was no way in hell I wanted to let him find out.</p><p>Luckily, he seemed to take my lack of response to her being half naked next to me as a sign that I wasn't interested, and dropped the subject. As we ate, I thought to myself absently that he hadn't reacted much to her choice of hiking bottoms earlier this morning, and wondered with a twinge of envy if he was used to seeing her like that at home. Maybe she wore tiny sleep shorts to bed, or maybe he was personally just more affected by topless women.</p><p><em>Although</em>, <em>there's no way he could be unaffected if he'd been the one behind her and saw what I'd seen</em>, I thought. <em>Those cute puffy lips...</em></p><p>I slapped myself mentally. <em>Fucking perv. Of course </em>he<em> doesn't look at her like that, she's his sister.</em></p><p>The rest of lunch was a bit more painful than I'd originally imagined it would be, but at least I managed to keep my raging erection down in front of everyone. I did my best not to think about her enticing barely-clad figure sitting to my left and instead tried to focus on pacing my eating so that I wouldn't finish before the rest of them and awkwardly look like I was avoiding looking at her, even though I was.</p><p>Afterward, we cleaned up our trash and packed it back in our bags. Rukia wanted to explore the rest of the peak to find the best viewing spot, so we walked around the top of the mountain a couple times to try to find a spot that wasn't too crowded.</p><p>We finally came to an area that overlooked a large expanse of the forest below us with the ocean faintly sparkling in the distance. Rukia skipped ahead to the front of the overlook while we followed her.</p><p>Until then, I'd been doing my best to keep my gaze averted from her as we wandered around the summit, or to only look at her face when I was speaking to her. But I had to admit that now with her body turned away and Renji a couple steps behind me, I couldn't help but take a quick peek at her figure as she stood before the edge.</p><p>Her hands were on her hips with her thumbs facing forward, the rest of her fingers resting lightly above the swell of her ass. Not counting the outfit she wore on our first day of the trip, it was my first time really seeing how tiny her waist was, as it flared out into unexpectedly full hips above her long, smooth legs. Although I couldn't see the front of it, I could tell she was wearing a tiny black sports bra to match her shorts, several thin straps crisscrossing over her delicate shoulder blades.</p><p>It suddenly occurred to me I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen a girl so casually in this little clothing, outside of sex and past relationships. Probably not since the days of wild college parties...but ever since I'd started working I'd found myself in mostly professional environments with at least business casual dress codes, and even at the gym I went to most of the women who frequented it were a bit older as well, preferring tanks and leggings to sports bras and shorts.</p><p>As I was thinking, Rukia lifted a hand from her hip to readjust her baseball cap, and the breeze blew her hair over her shoulder. I found myself transfixed, unable to look away as she placed it back on her head, tossing her silky ponytail back behind her.</p><p>My eyes followed her back down the curve of her spine, pausing at her supple ass and slender, toned thighs. I didn't know if it was the unconcerned way she was standing there with so much skin exposed, looking like she didn't give a damn she was half naked in public, or the innocent-looking white baseball cap reminding me of college football games, or something else, but for some reason all I could think about in that moment on was what felt like her obvious youthfulness.</p><p>"I think we found the best view," she said from in front of us, and I secretly had to agree.</p><p>"Wanna get a picture? You guys stand there first, let me check the lighting," Renji offered, taking off his backpack to get his camera out.</p><p><em>Don't be fucking weird, hurry up and go stand with her</em>...I stepped over so I was standing next to her, our backs to the scenery as we waited for him to finish fixing the settings.</p><p>"All right—Take One," he said, squinting an eye as he aimed the camera at us and looked into the viewfinder. "Let's see how this turns out."</p><p>I stood there stupidly with my hands gripping the straps of my bag, and jolted when I felt Rukia's small arm snake across my back to wrap around my waist. <em>Shit</em>. It'd look even more awkward if I kept my hands where they were, so I took one off to drape my arm over her shoulder with forced casualness, trying to look as "older-brotherly" as possible and <em>not</em> like I was getting excited at the feeling of her bare skin against mine. Though I'd immediately snapped my eyes away, I'd also looked down briefly in reaction to her sudden movement and had caught of glimpse of her chest now that I could see her front, the black sports bra hugging her modest breasts to form enticing cleavage and the outline of her perky nipples visible...</p><p>Before I had a moment to process much beyond that, there was the click of a shutter and Renji was peering down at the camera screen. "Cool, angle looks good. Don't move, I'll go get someone to take it for us," he said before jogging off.</p><p>I barely registered what he'd said as we stood there watching him talking to a couple hikers nearby, my arm still around Rukia as she stood pressed against my side. Of all the little things so far that had driven me crazy and consumed my thoughts with <em>her</em> on this trip, my brain had never felt like it was closer to short circuiting than right now. Despite the cooldown from lunch, her skin was warm against mine as I could feel the heat rolling off of it, and I could feel how smooth and soft it was beneath my arm.</p><p>She lightly adjusted her grip on my waist and I nearly jumped at the feeling of her fingers brushing close to my stomach. My erection was threatening to come back and I was freaking out, praying to God she didn't look down or do anything to stimulate me further, even though all I really wanted to do was grab her waist and pull her against me hard, to touch her heated skin, to feel more of her...</p><p>I barely managed to pull it together just as Renji got back with a fellow hiker in tow, handing them the camera and providing them with some quick instructions before coming over to join us. He stood on Rukia's other side, grinning as he threw his arm over her opposite shoulder.</p><p>I couldn't help but suppress a shudder as I stood there stiffly, trying my best to smile for the camera as I caught the flowery scent of Rukia's shampoo on the breeze.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Phew! And we're officially halfway through MBFLS—the real fun starts soon so hope you're all looking forward to it :)</p><p>For all my fellow IchiRuki lovers, I'd also like to share that there's a lovely IR Discord Server where you can share your headcanons, fics, art, and <s>commiserate</s> chat about our favorite pair! Let me know if you'd like a link to join us. Though hopefully this won't apply to anyone reading this story, please note that this is a strictly 18+ server with no underaged users allowed, though you're still welcome to join without access to the NSFW channels if you'd like.</p><p>As always, feel free to find me on Twitter @itspillowtime where I post doodles and retweet anything with an IR pulse. Hope you're all staying safe and enjoying your holidays and see you in the next chapter!</p>
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